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Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tina McGovern 415-749-3600 ext. 19, outreach@gatewayhigh.org
Gateway High School Students Unveil a Mural of Hope
June 5th, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - June 5, 2006 -Gateway High School's 9th grade Human Development class, in collaboration with Kid Serve and its Director and Supervision Artist Josef Norris, designed and created a mural entitled Hope.
The Hope mosaic is a colorful mural that, through the images of a sun, hands releasing a dove and a young girl's smiling face, inspire a sense of bold hope. Close inspection of the piece reveals that it is made up of thousands of pieces of tile and glass with individual faces and designs. The mural is located on the Geary Boulevard side of Gateway High School.
“As the students brainstormed ideas for the mural what emerged was a desire to communicate something hopeful amid a world that does not always feel hopeful from students' perspectives. Students found themselves thinking about how public art has value both to create something beautiful but also to inspire people, to get people too think and ideally, to bring people together---no matter our differences or the difficulties we may face,” said Assistant Principal and Gateway Human Development teacher Christina Griffith.
Mr. Norris was a muralist in residence at Gateway during the 2006 spring semester as part of the Kid Serve program, which guides Bay Area youth through the process of creating public art in their communities. These service-learning projects integrate art, social values, and curriculum and community service. Mr. Norris worked with Gateway students and faculty for the entire semester guiding students through the design and creation of a mural that is linked to their curriculum. The Gateway artists celebrated their collaboration with Mr. Norris at an unveiling ceremony on Monday, June 5, 2006.
The Gateway Human Development course is a requirement in which students explore different aspects of and challenges to our distinct human identity--students' relationships with themselves, their peers and the broader community.
About Gateway High School
Gateway was founded by a group of parents and educators who believed there was a need in the Bay Area for a smaller, personalized, college preparatory public high school with a commitment to and expertise in serving a diverse student population, including a significant number of students with learning differences. Now in its eighth year of school operations, Gateway is at full enrollment with 440 students in grades 9-12. More than 600 students applied for the 100 places in the current 9th grade class. Gateway students come from more than 100 different middle schools. For more information, contact Margot Shaub at 415-749-3600. For more information about Gateway visit its website, www.gatewayhigh.org.
About Kid Serve:
Kid Serve is an arts education program guiding students age 6-18 through the design and creation of permanent outdoor murals in their communities. The 8 and 14 week projects integrate social justice, creativity and community service and empowers young people to take a leadership role in beautifying and transforming their neighborhoods. Kid Serve has done over 45 youth murals projects with Bay Area kids since 1999.
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